Society’s trend toward historical ignorance is nothing new or recent. Terry Gilliam’s original “Time Bandits” presents it as a kind of passive villainy, although if you were among the kids who saw it in 1981 you might not have recognized that.
Instead, Gilliam banked on the relatable appeal of making a nerdy little boy that nobody listens to, his parents least of all, something every child understands. But when Kevin Haddock is drawn into the adventures of six small beings leaping between portals in space and time with a stolen map, his knowledge becomes his superpower.
Apple TV+'s modern “Time Bandits” doesn’t change this, although the 2024 version of Kevin (played by Kal-El Tuck) is geekier and more settled into his outcast status than the boy who actor Craig Warnock originated some 43 years ago.
Whether the plot loses something significant in casting Lisa Kudrow and four other average-sized actors instead of casting little people in those roles as Gilliam did in 1981 is also debatable. Less so, we should say, than the fact that such meaty roles remain rare for actors with dwarfism, as the granddaughter of Jack Purvis, who plays Wally in the original movie, pointed out in 2022.
"'Time Bandits' is the only film that's ever represented people like me in a way that isn't seen as a goblin or one of Snow White's seven little men,” Abbie Grace Purvis shared in a TikTok video that has since vanished. "This was a film that changed the times and it was ahead of the times, to be honest, because people like me weren't treated the same as they are now.
"For a generation that is so big on talking about inclusivity and diversity and making sure that everyone's heard, this whole casting choice just seems absurd," Purvis added.
The revival’s creators Jemaine Clement, Iain Morris and Taika Waititi took some of that criticism to heart, writing little people into the show and setting them up to play more expansive roles if Apple TV+ picks up a second season.
Said renewal depends on whether enough people who loved Gilliam’s original movie show up for this family-friendlier update with their children and their children’s children. And just like Kevin and his friends are never quite sure where they’ll end up next, the show’s popularity is anyone’s guess.
How many Gen Z and Millennials are familiar with “Monty Python” or Gilliam’s Trilogy of Imagination? That's hard to say, along with whether they’ll appreciate the film's “every expense was spared” craftiness.
Their bandits aren’t limited to brief touchdowns in ancient Greece, the Napoleonic era and the Titanic. After Kudrow’s Penelope and her companions Bittelig (Rune Temte); Alto (Tadhg Murphy); Widgit (Roger Jean Nsengiyumva), and Judy (Charlyne Yi) crash through Kevin’s bedroom by way of a time egress in his closet, he tags along as they hopscotch through time, space and continents. They plop down in most of their destinations accidentally, since Widgit, the map’s keeper, is an inept navigator. Along with Bittelig, the group’s strong man, Alto the thespian, and Judy the empath, everyone nonchalantly reminds Kevin of how boring he is while also proving they need him.
It takes about half the season for the plot to find its momentum, but don’t discount the revitalizing cinematic appeal of traveling beyond the usual Western civilization circles for keeping our attention until the pace picks up.
Kevin and the bandits drop in on the Mayan empire at its height, witness the sacking of Troy and accompany a massive pilgrimage to Mecca embarked on by the richest person in history — Mansa Musa, who ruled the West African empire of Mali. None of this makes them better thieves, but that was never this story’s point.
Having 10 episodes to play with removes much of the movie’s tendency to hasten past the story’s few poignant moments, although the writers file the points of the film’s fanged humor.
Throughout the season Tuck strikes a wonderful balance between Kevin’s know-it-all enthusiasm and the internal bruising he carries due to his inability to fit in.
Expanding his development beyond a couple of hours allows the writers to ripen the bond he develops with Penelope and his other friends — along with showcasing his sister Saffron (a wonderfully snarky Kiera Thompson), the second most dismissive figure in his life after his parents.
Waititi calls upon his usual slate of actors like Rachel House and others from “Our Flag Means Death,” and writes additional scenes and riffing into his role as the Supreme Being, some of which unnecessarily pad the season’s runtime.
Modern parents may appreciate the remake’s lower doses of, say, pet and parent explosions while missing the tension that sense of peril added.
But Kudrow is the marquee magnet every Apple TV+ series requires, as did Gilliam’s movie. (The classic featured cameos by Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall and “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” co-stars John Cleese and Michael Palin, who co-wrote its script.) To some degree this character lets her trade some of her signature comedic loopiness for a brittle insistence on control, clarifying her personality as a recreation of David Rappaport’s Randall.
Like Rappaport’s leader who insisted he wasn’t, Penelope’s companions soften her bossiness by wearing their hearts on their sleeves. Temte’s gentle strong man Bittelig and Nsengiyumva’s Widgit, the keeper of the map, emotionally anchor the story as the band’s softest sweethearts. Meanwhile, Thompson’s extraordinary performance in a pair of later episodes is entirely unexpected, fundamentally transforming the character and the series’ tone by extension.
The not-so-great part of this is the possibility that the attention they pull is due to a shift in focus necessitated by the sudden disappearance of Yi’s Judy midway through the season. (The actor exited the 2022 production due to what they describe as physical assault and verbal abuse on the set.)
But as that character’s absence grows more palpable, so does the show’s subtextual championing of personal bonds and expansive thinking.
The same outlook made Gilliam a sympathetic inspiration to nerds and weirdos that comprise his core fandom. Many of them became influential creators themselves, including the people responsible for this show.
Clement, Morris and Waititi compensate for what they’re right to presume concerning the audience’s thin knowledge about these figures by thickly layering their signature humor on top of excursions with the likes of 19th century pirate Zheng Yi Sao while dropping trivia bits, through Kevin, like the fact that she was the most successful pirate ever.
This comes from the perspective that considers how few high-concept family TV shows dare to invite people to do their homework. “Time Bandits” floats the possibility that viewers learn a few things while accepting that most will watch for the lighthearted jokes and the stars. That approach may not earn it a future season. But we’re content enough to tag along for the hours it’s been allotted.
"Time Bandits" is now streaming on Apple TV+.
